The prime objective of the project involves understanding open tubular capillary electrochromatography (OTCEC) in a specialized format: etching the inner wall of a fused silica capillary followed by chemical modification through silanization/ hydrosilation technology. The method offers a number of advantages over other configurations (packed capillaries, monoliths and other open tubular formats) of capillary electrochromatography. For fused silica capillaries in electrophoretic separations, the etching process described in the proposal results in a new more biocompatible surface that can be further modified by the silanization/ hydrosilation method to provide the selectivity desired. This combination leads to unique separation capabilities not possible with bare fused capillaries or those modified by other processes. Coupling OTCEC to mass spectroscopy offers analytical capabilities for the most complex samples such as those found in proteomics as well as many other biological and pharmaceutical applications. [unreadable] [unreadable] The development of more powerful techniques for chemical analysis is a crucial aspect to understanding diseases and to test the effects of various treatment protocols. This project focuses on providing a means for the analysis of complex samples found in clinical, biological and pharmaceutical applications. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]